The outspoken union chief steps down as General Secretary of the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation this month after 20 years in the post.

The Public Service Pay Commission was requested by Government to examine issues of recruitment and retention within the public service.

Nurses and midwives were among the first grades to be examined and submissions from employers and trade unions were requested.

Doran said there are 3,100 fewer nurses than there was ten years ago in a health service that is 20 per cent busier.

He said nurses are currently paid less than gardai and other health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dieticians — an “intolerable” situation that needs to be rectified.

The last time a national nurses’ strike took place was in October 1999

And he said if nurses’ pay isn’t addressed after years of austerity and pay cuts, another all–out strike is inevitable.

He added: “Why should a nurse who does a four-year degree programme work the same hours in the same health system be paid 15 to 20 per cent less than the physiotherapist, speech and language therapist, dietitian, occupational therapist.